A Wasted Weekend in London, Super Nando Strikes Again, The Jack Warner Effect, and more

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Where’d the weekend go? If you find it, tell it that it needed to stay a little longer.

But gone quickly as it may have been, it was an excellent weekend, especially on Premier League football pitches.

The big ‘un of the weekend was Sunday’s North London derby, and Tottenham and Arsenal shared the spoils at White Hart Lane, and hopefully you followed the action with our live match commentary. No debut for Arshavin, no goals on either side, not much to be happy about on either side, even for Arsenal, who despite being a man down for nearly an hour, got a point that doesn’t particularly help them right now.

As it happens though, they did gain a little ground on Chelsea, who seem to have developed a nasty habit of producing tepid home performances a little too regularly, which isn’t going to sit well with anyone in the stands. Maybe it’s time for Big Phil to rethink his selection and tactical choices, or petition for the rest of the season to be played away from home.

Of course, three points beat one, and that’s why Aston Villa are now in third, all by their lonesome, two points ahead of Chelsea and seven ahead of Arsenal. Hard not to be excited if you’re a Villa fan.

Things could be even better for Villa right now, but alas, Super Nando came to the rescue for Liverpool for the second time in a week on Saturday to put them top of the table for a little less than 24 hours and putting Tony Adams a little closer to the exit door. I wonder if he’s still got enough in the tank to get back on the pitch.

But as we enter a new week, still setting the pace at the top of the Premier League are Manchester United, who could be on the verge of distancing themselves from the pack if not for Torres and Aston Villa’s continued defiance of the odds. But they’ll have to settle for being two points up after another 1-0 win, this time at in-form West Ham. Way to teach those youngsters about how to finish properly, eh Giggsy?

We get a midweek respite from me talking about the Premier League with some exciting international matchups this week, with many eyes in Europe on England’s foray to Seville to face Spain and the mouth-watering Brazil-Italy clash at Wembley (anyone got a ticket for me?). Over here (in the U.S.), the U.S. and Mexico face off. In case you didn’t know, there’s a little hostility here, to say the least.

Despite Europe having a couple of worthy bids in the running for World Cup 2018, could it come down to the U.S. and Mexico? That’s just the way that a certain Mr. Warner might like to have it.